Estate to have new £75,000 play area

A new £75,000 play area will be built at the heart of a once-notorious Black Country estate as part of a multi-million pound revamp.

Derelict land in Brickhouse Lane, Rowley Regis, will be used for the new facilities which will be aimed at children of various ages, with traditional attractions such as swings and slides as well as "natural" features including boulders and a meadow area. The site off Harvest Road and Cornfield Road formerly housed the Brickhouse youth centre.

This has been demolished as part of a wider regeneration project for the area.

The fenced play area will be built as part of a £2.7million government Play Pathfinder Programme, which will see 28 play areas being built or refurbished in Sandwell.

The wider scheme includes an £800,000 adventure playground in Sandwell Valley, as well as £500,000 for safety training and recruiting staff to develop the play area.

Plans for the Brickhouse play area include a 6ft fence, while natural slopes and landscape features will be retained, and play equipment being fitted will be able to accommodate disabled children.

The proposed play area site is near a plot which has been earmarked for more than 50 new homes, a shop and care home.

Oldbury-based developers Metropolitan Estates has bought land that was previously occupied by the Brickhouse shopping centre in a £1.3m deal.

The estate was once labelled the "Beirut of Sandwell" by former council leader Bill Thomas, who campaigned for the Brickhouse scheme to be included in the £2.7m Play Pathfinder Programme.

Metropolitan Estates also has to hand over a further £50,000 to Sandwell Council to be spent on further improving community facilities and open spaces as part of the agreement for its planning permission.